Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-212) and index.
Contents:
List of Tables and Figures -- Note on Monies -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: The Power of Textiles -- Chapter 1: Spinning Networks and Spreading Risk -- Chapter 2: Flexible Architecture. The Warp and Weft of Urban and Courtly Residences -- Chapter 3: The Fabric of Social Relations -- Epilogue: Repair, Reuse, and Remaking: Constructing the Burgundian Polity -- Glossary and Textile Terminology -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary:
Textiles were used as markers of distinction throughout the Middle Ages and their production was of great economic importance to emerging and established polities. This book explores tapestry in one of the greatest textile producing regions, the Burgundian Dominions, c.1363-1477. It uses documentary evidence to reconstruct and analyse the production, manufacture, and use of tapestry. It begins by identifying the suppliers of tapestry to the dukes of Burgundy and their ability to spin webs between city and court. It proceeds by considering the forms of tapestry and their functions for urban and courtly consumers. It then observes the ways in which tapestry constructed social relations as part of gift-giving strategies. It concludes by exploring what the re-use, repair, and remaking of tapestry reveals about its value to urban and courtly consumers. By taking an object-centred approach through documentary sources, this book emphasises that the particular characteristics of tapestry shaped the strategies of those who supplied it and the ways it performed and constructed social relations.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.